How long can property booms in Dubai and Riyadh last?

IT ISaUAE villa fit for a Bond villain. Sited in Emirates Hills, an opulent Dubai neighbourhood popular with politicians and billionaires, the mansion’s interior is lined with 700,000 sheets of gold leaf. It sports a 24-carat gold jacuzzi, a 16-car garage and a coral-reef aquarium in the dining room. The asking price, when it was listed in June, was 750m dirhams ($204m).The mansion is one example of a red-hot property market in Dubai, the commercial hub of the United Arab Emirates (). Prices are also soaring in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Both logged double-digit price increases last year, when much of the rich world was in a housing slump. Developers are thrilled. But investors are wondering how long the boom can continue.